From the archives: I’m running a half marathon

Here I am in July 2011, somewhat tentatively standing in front of my newly formed goal to “rock the half.”

I recently wrote a post about why I started running. In it, I talked about how blogging for the now non-existent Nike Training Girls blog inspired me to start running in the first place.

The other day, I was searching on an external hard drive for some old pictures and I found all my original blog posts for Nike. Because the Nike Training Girls blog has long since been deleted, these posts literally only exist on my hard drive. I got sucked into reading them. It was a fabulous trip down memory lane. While some things never change (like my love of eating after running!), it was a really nice reminder of how far I’ve come.

So, I decided that these posts should live again. I found the best-of, and over the coming months, I’m going to re-publish them in a series called “From the archives.” So to kick off the new series, I bring you my first ever blog post that I wrote back in July 2011.

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I’m not going to lie. Yesterday’s 5km run during the She Runs TO* launch party was tough. I just returned from a busy business trip, I was low on sleep and mentally exhausted, but I didn’t want to miss the kick-off to what will be my first half marathon experience. The launch party atmosphere certainly helped. What an awesome, high-energy group. There was a big turnout with lots of new faces and I have always found that running with a group is so much more motivating than running by myself. I was thankful for that big group yesterday because there’s no way I would have done that run on my own.

So, I should probably start by introducing myself. I’m Miranda and you’re going to be following my first half marathon journey. And there’s no turning back now. It’s in writing. It’s official. I’ve committed to “rock the half” this fall. I’ve got 14 weeks to prepare and during this process, I’ll be blogging about my experiences – both the good and the bad.

Looking ever-so-slightly more self assured a few weeks into training

I used to think “there’s no way I’d ever run a half marathon.” You hear about people who can run “6-minute miles” and it’s intimidating! It’s especially intimidating to someone like me who does not come from a family of athletes. Back in the day, my family bought a treadmill and my Dad’s shoes were so ancient that when he went for his first run, he ran them to pieces, literally. The rubber was so old that the soles of his shoes actually disintegrated as he ran and left a big pile of shoe debris at the end of the treadmill. To this day, I believe that was the only time I’ve ever seen him use that treadmill.

I tell you this story to illustrate that I’m not a natural-born runner. But I do love a challenge. I did my first 10km three years ago and now it’s time to stretch my limits again. Like most people, I don’t like things that put me outside my comfort zone, but I always remind myself that those sorts of experiences are a good thing because they mean I’m always learning. And learning is great and everything but you know what? I was REALLY pumped when I saw that today was marked “rest day” on my training calendar J

So for now, here are the things I know about myself and running:

I’m slow. But what I lack in speed, I make up for in endurance. I don’t give up.

I like to eat after a run. I like to fantasize about my dinner as I run as motivation to keep going

I like running in groups. I like chatting with people as I run and I like the motivation of other people around.

I like having the right gear. Not just shoes and clothes that are comfortable, but stuff that looks good. Call me vain, but I’m so much more motivated when I feel like I look good.

My half marathon is about 100 days from now so bookmark this blog and follow along as I go from wannabe runner to half marathon superstar. OK, superstar might be overkill, but in all seriousness, I can’t wait to cross that finish line in the fall and tell you how it felt. I can’t wait to tell people, “I’m a half marathoner.”

*Note: She Runs TO was the name of the training series hosted by Nike for the Toronto half marathon in 2011. It was later renamed to include men as well, but it was originally targeted at women